A wide array of applications exists for which the ability to specifically select desired particles, or remove undesirable particles is useful. Such applications in particular may be served by the ability to sort particles, based upon visual information.
One such application is for the sorting of particular cells in a given sample. Such application may be desirable for predicating sorts on, for example, temporal and spatial behavior of cells. To date the most conventionally used means for such application is flow-assisted cell sorting (FACS). While FACS enables high throughput sorting, such sorts are based on whole-cell fluorescence at a single timepoint. Moreover, FACS necessitates use of relatively large cell samples.
While laser capture microdissection (LCM) is another means which has been used to sort non-viable cells from microwell arrays, however its live-cell sorts require the use of proprietary films. A sorting apparatus which can be readily scaled, requiring no electrical interconnects or support electronics to address cells, allows for diverse surface functionalization, requires seconds to remove a cell of interest, and provides for simple retrieval of released viable cells is desirable and currently lacking.